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Fri, 27 July, 2012Hungary: Driver Friday quotes

Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes (1st, 1:21.995):“Itís been a really positive day. Iím very happy. During the sessions we made some useful changes to the car to get it dialled-in, and weíre on the right path, but weíve still got a bit of work to do. The guys did a fantastic job. Weíre going to keep pushing, though. Iím on it. Iíve been on it all year. I feel a lot of support from the fans, here and everywhere, and I think things are looking pretty good this weekend. Iíll be focusing on maximising every lap and every opportunity I get out there. Overtaking here is difficult, so qualifying and track positioning will be of paramount importance. Some drivers may do longer runs, some may do shorter runs [in the race]. Either way, Jenson and I will be looking to qualify well and start at or near the front. I love this track, even if overtaking here is a challenge. Itís a driversí circuit, with real character to it Ė lovely off-camber corners, nice ups and downs Ė and those elements combine to make it great fun to drive. It just flows. Iím happy with my dayís work and I think the guys in the garage will be happy with their dayís work too. They certainly should be. Well done, guys!”

Kimi RšikkŲnen, Lotus-Renault (2nd, 1:22.180):“It was a normal Friday for me. We did the normal things and tried to make the car as quick as it can be. We were second fastest which was good, and weíve managed to improve the setup on my car over the last few races so Iíve been pretty happy with it. Weíre just making small improvements, but weíre making them all the time and going in the right direction. Itís only Friday, but weíre hoping for another good day tomorrow. ”

Bruno Senna, Williams-Renault (3rd, 1:22.253):“It was a good afternoon getting a feel for the track conditions and how the tyres were performing. The car was behaving well but we need to keep working. There is good potential in the car though which makes me happy ahead of qualifying tomorrow.”

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (4th, 1:22.417):“All in all, it was a good day, with the only inconvenient factor being the rain, which arrived halfway through the afternoon, which prevented us doing the planned long run to understand the tyre behaviour, However, it was not just our problem, as everyone found themselves in the same situation. All the same, we did manage to get a reasonably clear idea on tyre performance and on that of the car, but it's really too early to judge where we are compared to the others. There are definitely some cars that are going quickly, as indeed was the case in Hockenheim. But we are well aware that the results of the first day at the Hungaroring always need to be taken with a pinch of salt because at the start of the weekend, the track is always very dirty and the situation changes radically from Friday through to Sunday. Let's see how things go tomorrow. We realise we need to do everything as well as possible to get the very most out of what we have to work with.”

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari (5th, 1:22.582):“What's to say, the usual Friday, at the end of which it is always difficult to hypothesise on how things will go in qualifying or the race. Even more so when it rains, as happened over the past three race weekends. Because of this afternoon's rain in fact, we did not manage to try the dry tyres over a long run but, at least in the morning we managed to complete the work relating to the aerodynamic updates which we brought here in Hungary. Now it's up to our engineers to do all the analyses to put together the best possible package for the rest of the weekend. Here, qualifying is definitely more important than elsewhere: it will therefore be vital to go into every little detail to be as well prepared as possible for tomorrow. The unknown relating to tyres? It's the same for everyone as was the case in Silverstone and Hockenheim!”

Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes (6th, 1:22.747):“FP1 was reasonably good for us Ė we were competitive straight out of the box, in fact. This afternoon, in FP2, we tried a few things to improve our carís balance, and I think we made some decent progress in the end. So Iím pretty happy with the car, all in all, and I think weíre pretty competitive around here, but in FP2 we learned that a lot other teams are pretty competitive around here too. As ever, though, itíll be about getting the perfect balance. I reckon weíre going to see a fierce battle for victory this weekend. Having said that, we had a good car at Hockenheim, and we should have a good car here too, so we should be up there. As I say, itís much too close to call, though. This circuit is known as a difficult one on which to overtake, but I think itíll be possible to do so in the DRS zone down the pitstraight. Elsewhere itíll probably be tricky to make passing moves stick. But itís a fun circuit to drive on, and of course I scored my maiden Grand Prix victory here, which is always special.”

Paul di Resta, Force India-Mercedes (7th, 1:22.794):“I think the most important thing today is that we managed to get some good information on some test items Ė which is something that has not been easy at previous races with the mixed weather. Even though it rained again this afternoon, we completed a lot of work before it arrived and have some useful set-up data going into the weekend. I managed to run on both the medium and soft compounds today, but we missed out on getting the long run data because of the rain.”

Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault (8th, 1:22.824):“Thereís still a lot of room for improvement and things that we need to do a bit better for the weekend Ė then we can see where we are. We got a decent run on the primes which was important and we learned things from that, but it looks tight. Unfortunately the weather caught us out, same as everyone, but we will see what we get tomorrow.”

Romain Grosjean, Lotus-Renault (9th, 1:22.922):“Not the best day weíve had but not the worst either. The car didnít feel quite as I like it, similar to how it felt in Hockenheim, which made things a bit tricky. I made a mistake running wide on the exit of turn seven in the second session which meant I touched the wall, so a big apology to the guys for that. On a more positive note we now understand a few things which need improving in terms of setup, so hopefully tomorrow these will make a difference and Iíll have the confidence to push a bit harder and show the true pace of the car.”

Michael Schumacher, Mercedes (10th, 1:23.160):“We had two sessions with normal running, expect for my little crash into the tyres this afternoon. I just locked up and run out of road. By hitting the tyres, I lost the front wing, but other than that, nothing is damaged on the car, I believe. It was the kind of incident that happens when suddenly a shower hits the dry track. The car felt okay until then, and we will now look deep into our data to find a good way to approach qualifying and the race. The rain might undoubtedly be an opportunity but I am not totally sure about the forecast. Let's see what we can take away from here.”

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes (11th, 1:23.164):“This is a great track to drive, and it was really exciting out there, particularly this afternoon with the mixed conditions. At the end in some places it was dry, and in others, there were rivers of water. It was a decent day of testing for us overall. We worked a lot on different things, and this afternoon we tried to bring my car in a different working window mechanically, but there is still some work to do on that tomorrow.”

Pastor Maldonado, Williams-Renault (12th, 1:23.337):“It was a busy day for us trying a few different things to help us decide which direction to go regarding set-up for the weekend. We didnít complete all our planned long runs because of the rain this afternoon so itís difficult to say where we are. Iím still feeling confident for the weekend but we have some work to do in practice tomorrow morning to make sure we can improve before qualifying.”

Nico HŁlkenberg, Force India-Mercedes (13th, 1:23.713):“Quite a positive day overall, but like everybody we missed out on getting the long run data. Apart from that, I felt comfortable in the session and we got through most of the set-up programme. I went out towards the end on intermediates to get a feel for the wet conditions, but the track was drying very quickly so there was not too much to learn.”

Mark Webber, Red Bull-Renault (14th, 1:23.814):“We got some running in the wet and the dry, but weíve got work to do. Iím not super happy with that today, but itís good that itís only Friday. We seem to be going okay in some places, but losing time in others Ė so weíll go through it tonight. I need to work on the balance. Thereís no change from the engine mapping amend.”

Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari (15th, 1:23.841):“The weather today was a kind of surprise. We had such a packed programme and I really would have preferred two dry sessions, because we still have a lot of work to do. For some reason we struggled in the morning. We donít understand our poor performance in dry conditions yet and have to investigate that. We were fast on the wet track but I think that is not worth anything when I look at the weather forecast.”

Jean-…ric Vergne, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (16th, 1:24.328):“In general, it was an okay day. We came here with some aero updates to evaluate and the test went off smoothly and my first impression is that they are working in the right direction. However, we are still suffering from a lack of speed and finding more pace in the dry is what we need to work on now to close the gap. In the short term itís going to be difficult, but we will try and find something for tomorrow, making the best of what we have. In the afternoon we tried to make the most of the rain to see what conditions could be like if we had bad weather on Sunday. But the track was partly dry and partly wet, so it was rather inconclusive.”

Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso-Ferrari (17th, 1:24.345):“The track seemed less dirty than usual for a Friday and there was pretty good grip this morning. Theyíve also resurfaced the last corner and that seems to have really rubbered in a lot, which is good. I was not too displeased with the car in the morning, but in general, it is a similar story to the last few races, in that we lack pace compared to the others. We made some changes to the car in between the sessions, but they just confirmed my initial feeling that the car would not be as good, but we wanted to try it anyway, confirming that the car was actually better in FP1. There is a bit more pace to come from the car, but Iím not sure it will be enough to move up the order very much from where we are now.”

Sergio Pťrez, Sauber-Ferrari (18th, 1:24.623):“It was a difficult day. I am not happy yet with my car. We need to look at the data now and we need a good third free practice session tomorrow. However, on the time sheets it looked particularly bad for me in FP2 because I didnít manage to go out on soft tyres after a brake problem needed to be fixed in the garage.”

Vitaly Petrov, Caterham-Renault (19th, 1:24.823):“Overall itís been a pretty positive day. We managed to complete a good number of laps in both sessions, despite the rain in the afternoon, and the times today show that weíre getting back to where we want to be, relative to the opposition. I was particularly pleased with the time I produced on the soft tyres in FP2 and I think it shows that weíve made some progress. The rain obviously affected us the same as it did with everyone in FP2 but we made the call to go out on the inters and managed to get some good information on those tyres and the setup we might consider for Sunday, if the forecasts about rain are right. All in all, itís been a good day and Iím looking forward to getting back in the car tomorrow.”

Heikki Kovalainen, Caterham-Renault (20th, 1:25.220):“Both sessions today were pretty good. Even though it was business as normal, 58 laps on a Friday is decent mileage, even with the rain interruption, and weíve managed to get through the test programme weíd set for both sessions. Times-wise itís too early to say where weíre at this weekend. Hopefully we can have another dry session tomorrow in FP3, and who knows what will happen during the race. The trick is not to make any mistakes in either session tomorrow and put ourselves in as strong a position as possible for the race on Sunday so we can have a good result ahead of the August break.”

Timo Glock, Marussia-Cosworth (21st, 1:27.104):“The first practice was quite okay. With all the changes made since Hockenheim, my car seems more Ďback to normalí, I would say. Thereís still some work to do on the set-up and to make the car a little quicker, but I was quite happy at the end of the morning. On the cautious side we will take a good look at the data and make sure it is as positive as it felt so far. Then the weather hit and it was very difficult out on track on the intermediate. The consistency of the wet patches was quite varied; it was very strange. Some corners were impossible to drive and I almost lost my car at the same point as Michael (Schumacher), but luckily I caught it. Now, weíll have a good look at everything and see what we can come back with for tomorrow.”

Pedro de la Rosa, HRT-Cosworth (22nd, 1:27.106):“In general today went quite well. Despite the fact that we were unable to do long runs with a full tank to see how the tyres reacted, we did at least have the opportunity to test both compounds at the start of the second session and we got ahead of the rain. The car has performed well from the very start but we still have to improve it a bit for tomorrow, especially make it quicker on slow corners because itís oversteering. But we have a clear indication and a good base so all we have to do now is work.”

Charles Pic, Marussia-Cosworth (23rd, 1:27.185):“We made a good start to the weekend in FP1 and I was quite happy with the car. It felt well-balanced quite quickly. In the break we made some changes that we thought may help to improve it further, but on the opening run this afternoon I felt this was not a good direction. It took some time to change things back, by which time we had lost the window for a run on the Soft tyre because the weather turned against us. The rain was heavier than predicted and so it also did not dry as quickly as we had hoped. I did a run with the intermediate tyre to prepare for similar conditions through the weekend.”

Narain Karthikeyan, HRT-Cosworth (24th, 1:27.822):“The Hungaroring is virtually a new track for me because itís been seven years since I raced here, so I would have liked to have done more miles in the dry, but the rain caught us all by surprise. The track is pretty bumpy and quite technical so itís quite tough to get used to, but I think weíve done a good job. Weíre not far off our main rivals and I think that tomorrow we can take them on.”

Valtteri Bottas, Williams-Renault (First practice only):“It was a good first practice for us. It was dry so we completed our programme without any problems. The car felt good but we were also able to make some improvements during the session. There are still some things to fine tune but overall it was a really good morning.”

Jules Bianchi, Force India-Mercedes (First practice only):“Lots of laps for me today, which was useful and Iím getting more used to the car now. I started off by doing a lot of short runs so the team could evaluate some test items, then I did a couple of longer runs towards the end. It was difficult to find the limit and I was not totally comfortable with the car today, so I think there is some more laptime still to come. Itís always valuable to get time in the car on a race weekend and hopefully the team will learn a lot from the data.”

Dani Clos, HRT-Cosworth (First practice only):“Today I was finally able to enjoy a dry session in good conditions. Towards the end of the session we were running very well on used tyres and I feel better every day in the F112. Just like any Friday session the objective was to have a first contact with the circuit and start to improve the set-up. I still need to do more miles to continue progressing but today I took another step.”